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Stop and smell the, er, stench of corpse flower

Corpse flower, nearly extinct, blooms at OSU

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoJeff Hinckley | DISPATCHRhonda Barrett of Fairborn snaps a photo of the corpse flower as others gather atop the OSU Biological Science Greenhouse Facility to see — and sniff — the plant.

The malodorous titan arum, also known as “corpse flower,” was affectionately sized up and put in
those terms by some of the dozens at Ohio State University’s Biological Science Greenhouse Facility
last night.

And that was before the endangered native of western Sumatra fully bloomed — and fully
stunk.

Once unfurled, the giant leaves draping the shaft, or spadix, of the plant will fill the entire
seventh-floor greenhouse atop a university parking garage with a stench designed by nature to lure
carrion beetles and the flies that help to pollinate it.

Early yesterday evening, many of the 25 to 30 visitors had to dip their heads into the bowl-like
blossom to get a whiff of the plant. But the full stench should be there by this morning, so the
greenhouse, at 332 W. 12th Ave., will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today for those who wish to
partake.

“Kind of like warm garbage or compost,” said Alaina Niebauer, who works in the OSU extension
department and wanted to see — and sniff — the rare plant. “Not superoffensive, but not pleasant.”&
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That such a beguiling plant could befoul the air so intensely drew Avalena Barrett, her
13-month-old son, Hadrian, and her mother, Rhonda, from their home in Fairborn.

OSU’s work to protect and propagate the species is to be commended, said Rhonda Barrett.

“It’s contributing to us re-populating the plant life of the world, which is so important,” she
said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Fewer than 40 sites nationwide have witnessed blooms of the nearly extinct plant, introduced in
the United States in 1937, Ohio State says.

“It was the sheer size that got me here,” Avalena Barrett said of the plant, which easily tops 5
feet. “I couldn’t care less about the smell. I work on a horse farm.”

Having missed out on a similar spectacle last year — another titan arum bloomed this time last
year at OSU — Nick and Laura Read brought their children, Agnes, 6; Eliot, 3; and Olive, 1, from
Clintonville.

“It’s such a rare occurrence,” said Mr. Read, an OSU weed-science employee.